Corner lock for bedsteads



Jan. 3, 1956 T. E. ALLEN 2,723,923

CORNER LOCK FOR BEDSTEADS Filed April 17, 1953 Fig. 4

Thomas E. Allen IN VEN TOR.

B Y Q0162.

WWW

United States Patent CORNER LOCK FOR BEDSTEADS Thomas E. Allen, Kankakee, Ill.

Application April 17, 1953, Serial No. 349,354

1 Claim. (Cl. -294) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in corner locks for locking the rails of a bedstead to the corner posts thereof.

An important object of the invention is to provide a corner lock of this character wherein a bracket is attached to each corner post and formed with a V-shaped notch in which a pair of locking tongues carried by the rail are adapted to enter and constructed in a manner to tighten the rail with respect to the corner post by the weight of the rail and the load supported thereby.

Another object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is strong and durable, eflicient and reliable in use, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purpose for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to'the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the rail supporting bracket; and,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the rail and showing the locking tongues carried thereby.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates one of the corner posts of a bedstead and to which a bracket designated generally at 6 is secured, the bracket being constructed of a vertical post-attaching flange 7, and a vertical rail-supporting flange 8 projecting at right angles to flange 7 and outwardly with respect to the post 5.

The upper edge of flange 8 is formed with a substantially V-shaped notch 10 and with one edge 11 of the notch positioned substantially perpendicularly and parallel to post 5, while the opposite or opposed edge 12 of the notch is inclined outwardly with respect to the post.

The metal bed rail is designated at 13 and is of angle construction to provide a vertical flange 14 and a horizontal flange 15.

Each end portion of the rail is provided with a pair of locking tongues 16 and 17 which project outwardly from the vertical flange 14 of the rail, the locking tongue 16 including a flat shank portion 18 which projects outwardly from the side of flange 14 of the rail and a flange portion 19 which is bent at right angles with respect to the shank portion 18 thereof. Locking tongue 17 likewise includes a flat shank portion 20 which projects outwardly from the side of rail 13 and a flange portion 21 which is bent at right angles to the shank portion 20 and the flange portions 19 and 21 of the pair of locking tongues are positioned parallel to and spaced outwardly from the rail 13 and project oppositely or away from each other, and shown more clearly in Figure 4 of the drawing.

The shank portion 18 of locking tongue 16 is positioned perpendicularly while the shank portion 20 of locking tongue 17 is inclined in an upwardly diverging relation with respect to shank portion 18.

The notch 10 of bracket 6 is adapted to receive the locking tongues 16 and 17 of the rail 13 and with the vertical edge 11 of the notch engaged in the tongue 16 with limited freedom while inclined shank portion 20 of locking tongue 17 rides against the inclined edge 12 of the notch. By reason of this construction, as the locking tongues ride downwardly in the notch 10, the inclined shank 20 riding against the inclined edge 12 of the notch will serve to draw the end of rail 13 toward the adjacent post 5 within the range of movement permitted by the freedom of tongue 16 so that the end portion of the rail will bear tightly against the post-attaching flange 7 of the bracket 6 and thus tightly lock the rail to the bedstead.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A corner lock for bedsteads comprising in combination a corner bracket including a vertical attaching flange and a rail supporting flange at right angles to the attaching flange, said rail supporting flange having a substantially V-shaped notch in its upper edge and said notch being formed with an inwardly disposed edge parallel to the attaching flange and an outwardly inclined outwardly disposed edge, and a bed rail having a pair of locking tongues projecting therefrom, said tongues including shank portions adapted to enter said notch and oppositely extending flange portions at right angles to the respective shank portions and spaced outwardly from the rail and locked at the outer surface of the rail supporting flange, one of said shank portions of the locking tongues being inclined parallel to and positioned to ride against the inclined edge of the notch to force the rail longitudinally toward the attaching flange to bind both tongues in the notch by a downward inserting engagement of the tongues therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,099,764 Polansky June 9, 1914 1,439,453 Streich Dec. 19, 1922 1,678,708 Richardson July 31, 1928 1,952,095 Richardson Mar. 27, 1934 Patented Jan. 3, 1956 

